


Better Late Than Never

by bettername2come



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Don't say I didn't warn you, F/M, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-08 13:27:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18624178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettername2come/pseuds/bettername2come
Summary: Steve finds Peggy.





	Better Late Than Never

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to keep as canon compliant as possible when I'm not entirely sure if they've created an alternate timeline or not. Picks up shortly after the events of Agent Carter season 2 and Avengers: Endgame.

Steve had returned all the Infinity Stones, just like he’d said he would (despite the awkwardness on Vormir). He’d had every intention of returning to 2023 again when he’d begun his journey into the past, but he couldn’t resist the chance to get one more glimpse of the Peggy of 1970. Not the vibrant young woman he’d lost in 1945, nor the frail, wise woman he’d lost in 2016, but somewhere in between.  Intelligent, beautiful and finally able to get people to listen to and give her the respect she deserved. He smiled, thinking how proud the Peggy he’d met in 1943 would be if she could see herself now. His heart ached. “The love of my life” he had called her at the support group meeting. Who he’d spent too little time with, shared only one kiss with. He’d tried to move on, really he had, maybe not in the healthiest way, but he had tried to put his past behind him. But maybe he didn’t have to. Not anymore.

What was it Bruce had said? It’s not _your_ past if it’s _your_ future? Something like that. He’d fixed the future. Done what the universe of 2023 had required of him. Wasn’t he done? What else was there for him to do in the future? Hadn’t he done all he could do for his friends/country/world/universe? He flashed back to the final battle against Thanos, to the multitude of warriors they had called upon. That time had enough heroes. They would be all right without him. He glanced down at the cylinder containing the Pym Particles. He had enough for only one more trip. If he was going to do this, he’d have to get it right.

Navigating the SHIELD archives for the information he needed took longer than Steve would’ve guessed, making him miss the internet for a moment. He needed to find the perfect time to go back. Peggy had work of her own, things that couldn’t be disrupted by hi, just popping back into her life. As much as he wished he could just appear behind Peggy the moment his plane went down in 1945, that wasn’t something he could do. The last place Steve had expected to find Peggy Carter was Los Angeles, but her file was very clear. She’d lived there for several years starting in 1947 after – wait, that was why Whitney Frost’s movie career ended? They’d left that one out of her Wikipedia article. Steve pushed that thought aside. Sometime after that then. He’d find Peggy and explain, and maybe, just maybe they could get their happy ending. He found the address for SSR headquarters in Los Angeles, once he learned she’d been staying with Howard Stark at the time. Forget revealing too much about the future, Steve didn’t know if he could look Howard in the eye after Tony’s death. Hell, after Howard’s.

So he traveled back to 1947, picked up a newspaper and sat down on a bench down the block from to wait for her. He wasn’t sure long he waited before she walked out, slipping on a pair of sunglasses as she stepped into the fading light of the California sunset. _God, she’s even more beautiful than I remembered_ , he thought as he watched her pass from the edge of his newspaper. He was so focused on staring that he almost forgot why he was here. He jumped from his seat, jogging to catch up with her. “Peggy!” he called.

She stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned around. “Is this a test?” she asked.

Steve smiled. “No, it’s not. I’ve –“ Steve didn’t get to finish his sentence because at that moment Peggy pulled out a gun and fired a shot that made him dive for cover.

“Who are you?!” Peggy yelled, but she didn’t fire again.

Steve figure that was about the best result he could hope for. He raised his hands above his head as he stepped back out from behind the fender of a Buick. “It’s me, Peggy. As crazy as it sounds, as crazy as everything I’m going to tell you sounds, it’s all true.”

The gun lowered a fraction of an inch. “Prove it.”

“The last time you shot at me it was because another woman kissed me, not that you’d ever admit to being jealous. You’d say you were just testing the new shield.”

Peggy lowered the gun as she lifted up her sunglasses to get a better look at him, but she still seemed unconvinced.  

“I know I’m late. Again. I’m so sorry. I did what I had to do.” Steve took a few steps forward. When Peggy made no move to get away he continued speaking. “But I’m here now. Really.”

Peggy moved closer this time, reaching a hand out to touch his cheek, as though she thought he might have been a ghost. Steve reached for her hand and pressed it against his cheek. Peggy let out a small gasp of surprise as tears welled up in her eyes. “It really is you. How? The plane – “

“I can explain. Most of it. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”

“I think I have a fairly good idea. At least you didn’t think I was dead.”

An expression of pain crossed Steve’s face, before he forced the smile back on. “The way you jump into danger, that was no guarantee.” Steve expected Peggy to come back with her usual sharp wit was met instead by her soft lips as she pulled him down to meet her height. For a moment, all Steve could think of was that first kiss in 1945, but this was slower calmer. There was no Hydra he had to chase after when the kiss broke. They had all the time in the world.

Eventually, Peggy did pull back, presumably to catch her breath. “It seems wherever you’ve been you finally did learn something about women.” She shook herself off. “We need to call Howard. He’s spent so much time looking for you – “

“We can talk to Howard later,” Steve replied, trying to work out whether that was something that could happen or whether that would lead to one of those disastrous alternate timelines Bruce had mentioned. “Right now the only thing I want is to get that dance lesson I was promised.”

Peggy laughed. “Better late than never, I suppose.” She pulled back from Steve and reached out her hand for him to take. “Come on. I know a place.”

Steve gripped her hand, smiling as he followed his best girl into the sunset.


End file.
